VENTURA : Motorist Arrested in Hit-Run Accident
A 26-year-old Oxnard man, whose license is suspended because of a drunk-driving conviction, was being held in Ventura County Jail on Monday after allegedly slamming into a pickup truck in east Ventura and injuring the driver, authorities said.
Police arrested Victor Manuel Manrique about 11 p.m. Sunday, after spotting his car in El Rio.
Officers found several empty containers of alcoholic beverages inside Manrique’s car, police said. He was booked into jail on suspicion of felony drunk driving and hit-and-run, and was being held in lieu of $5,000 bail.
According to police, Manrique plowed into the rear of a truck driven by Ruben Gaeta, 35, of Santa Paula while Gaeta was stopped at a red light on Wells Road in east Ventura. Gaeta suffered minor injuries in the accident, which occurred just before 9 p.m. Sunday.
Manrique hesitated, then sped away from the scene, according to a witness who scribbled down the suspect’s license plate and a description of the vehicle.
After police traced the vehicle registration to El Rio and arrested Manrique, the suspect admitted to being involved in a second hit-and-run accident earlier Sunday in Santa Paula.
Manrique is scheduled to be arraigned in Ventura County Municipal Court on Wednesday.
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